MonicaM

I binged through this because I was sick and didn’t move much from my couch. Otherwise, I’m not sure I would have stayed to the end. Didn’t like or care about any of the characters. The story wasn’t told particularly well, and the ending was anti climactic. I was annoyed with myself for not finding something better to watch.

My youngest son is very sick and we're pretty sure it's Covid. He's been as careful as possible, but he is surrounded at work by deniers, so it probably was just a matter of time before he was infected. He was tested Monday but doesn't yet have the results. My husband and I were tested today and results take four days. So far we are both feeling fine physically. Mentally is definitely a different story. My husband has Parkinson's, and I'm not sure which one of us has more anxiety over the situation. On Monday, when it was clear our son was sick, I didn't think the week could get any worse. Then today happened. Wake me up when spring arrives.

I wonder if Nurie is holding off trying to get pregnant because she knows Mama also wants another baby? (I don't feel like looking it up, but didn't Jill post that they were praying to be pregnant together?) I could see Jill dropping not-so-subtle hints that she doesn't want any baby news from Nurie until she has news of her own. And I could also see Nurie and Nathan both realizing their lives would be a lot easier if they held off to see if Mama could conceive AGAIN before trying for their own baby. If Jill is still hoping for another pregnancy, there's a good chance she might lay on the guilt and whine and moan about her "infertility" for the entirety of her daughter's pregnancy. Those children are well trained to do just about anything possible to avoid upsetting Mama, even putting off starting their own family. Hope I'm wrong!

Joining Parler, a place where people advocate taking up arms and violence towards anyone who doesn't share their right wing views? Uh, ok.

You aren’t supposed to enjoy those types of letters. You are supposed to read them and admire how well they’ve done for themselves. If your life isn’t as picture perfect as theirs, that’s too bad. 🙄 I know that sometimes things actually aren’t real great behind the scenes. However, I also know only too well that sometimes people really are leading charmed lives and they seem to genuinely believe that any problem someone else might have was somehow self inflicted. I have a relative leading a charmed life and she hires a professional to decorate her house for Christmas and then hires a photographer so she can illustrate her Christmas letter with perfect pictures of her perfect house and perfect grandchildren. I’ve heard her social media is even more over the top.

Probably. Mr. M had the older vaccine about ten years ago, but his doctor still recommended getting the new one. Check with your own doctor, of course, since your medical situation could be very different from his.

This is the most common theme I hear as well. Soon, you won't be able to grocery shop or get medical attention without getting scanned for your microchip. Ironically, the people who seem to promote this misinformation the most are those who live on social media and daily post just about every aspect of their lives. As with Jill, we know the names and ages of their spouse and children, where they live, what they do most of the time, and we not only see their intimate sleeping arrangements, we even know what their bathrooms look like. Hardly the type of people who should be able to talk about privacy concerns with a straight face.

If polygamy is so wonderful, why do these older women end up living with their children? Shouldn't they be happy and content with their sister wives, even though the "husband" is gone? You know, like one big happy family? In particular, I hope Christine's children are all generous, successful adults because with no pension and little, if any social security, she's a prime candidate to spend her "golden" years relying on the kindness of others.

With all the people coming and going, including the camera crew, going barefoot in Ma and Pa Duggar's house would be the equivalent of going barefoot in a shopping mall. I wouldn't even consider it. I'm not sure I'd even wear sandals in that house. At least malls have employees who know how to clean.

My oldest son used to see me putting on make up and wanted to wear make up too. I would put a little moisturizer on his cheeks and some clear gloss on his lips and he seemed just as happy as he would have been if he'd been wearing full stage make up for Cats. He's a grown, married man now, with advanced college degrees and a high powered career. Kids are so much fun!

Mr. M and I are scheduled to get our second shingles vaccine on December 30. After the first shot, we both had very sore arms, body aches, and I had a headache. Mr. M ran a low grade fever. However, based on what I've heard from people who have suffered through shingles, a few hours of not feeling well is a very small price to pay to avoid the agony they describe, which often lasted for weeks. Not looking forward to the second shot, but I'm grateful that we won't have to be concerned about getting a painful case of shingles.

I couldn't marry into a family like the Duggar's. Too many expectations from too many people, and too much chaos. I love most of my own relatives and most of my in-laws, but I like extended family as a PART of our lives, not as the CENTER of our lives. Plus, we've always evenly divided our time between his relatives and mine. I absolutely would not put up with a situation where his relatives were the top priority. If his relatives had the attitude that they were better than others, I doubt I could sit through a meal with them, much less attend all kinds of pretend events tailored to showing off on television and social media. I'm no fan of any Duggar or any Duggar spouse, but I could see where Lauren might find life as a Duggar extremely uncomfortable, even though she comes from a large family herself. If she's genuinely unhappy with the Duggar clan, maybe she'll be one of the first to tell the outside world what really happens behind the scenes. My guess is that it's a lot uglier than we suspect.

Hope and Stead. What a stupid interesting name. I keep reading it as Hope and Steal.

It would be a lot less noticeable if Jill didn't insist on the closest close-up possible of her heavily made up face.

The strictest, most hard core religious people I know are also hard core gun enthusiasts who promise to shoot to kill if anyone steps on their property. Or looks as if they might step on their property. Then they go to church and recite "as we forgive those who trespass against us". I'm far from anti-gun, but I hate it when people glorify them.

No, it isn't awful. Been there, done that. And if you find that you still care about the person who abused you, that's not awful either. It's normal. It's all a part of why it's so difficult to get out of an abusive situation. Sending you positive thoughts and hoping you find a way to get the money you need for living expenses. If your husband has anything of value, my suggestion is that you sell it and use the proceeds to start a new life.

Did you have to provide ID? I thought about making an account, but I've read you need to provide state issued ID, and/or a phone number. Several of my FB friends are making a big deal about a "mass exit" on the 13th. After reading the Reddit posts about the place, I seriously hope law enforcement monitors the site, but I also think ordinary citizens need to keep up with what the fanatics are promoting. Forewarned is forearmed.

Haven't been there, but from what I've read, there's a lot of right wing politics. Very right wing. Like, very very right wing. Don't know how much I should say here, but what I've read is far from benign. If this crowd starts buying into what I've been reading, then I will no longer consider Joy and Austin to be dull and ignorant - I will consider them dull, ignorant and dangerous.

She may feel inferior to His Greatness, but she comes across as feeling superior to everyone else. My sense is that she's genuinely happy with her life right now.

@beckie I speak from personal experience in my first marriage - it won't get any better and most likely will get worse. I also know from personal experience that he probably has you convinced that you deserve to be mistreated. You absolutely do NOT!!! I know it's tough, and I realize you may not be ready to accept help at the moment. But please at least document this episode with someone. Preferably the police or someone at the emergency room, but even telling a friend and having him/her take a picture and make a note of the date is a good start. Leaving my abusive husband was one of the most difficult things I've ever done. Seems like it should be easy, but abusers know how to develop a hold on you that's difficult to break. I hope this is episode is a big step in the process of you getting out. It may not seem like it now, but life gets so much better when you get out of the grip of abuse.

They were practically begging for poll workers in my area. I've always wanted to work the elections, but other obligations have been an obstacle in past years. This year I theoretically could have worked on election day, but didn't want to take the risk. We voted early at the courthouse, so I don't know who ended up working that day. Normally it's older retired people. We have a ton of anti maskers in our area, so I'm guessing that it was probably older, retired, maskless workers, handing out ballots to voters who, for the most part, also were skipping the masks. 😠

Frasier is one of the few shows that has ever made me laugh uncontrollably on several different occasions. No matter how many times I see my favorite episodes, I laugh out loud. The combination of great writing and great acting puts it number one on my list of favorite television programs.

Medical MJ is legal in my state, and my husband and I both have our cards. If I use any, it's just enough to take the edge off my anxiety. Yesterday I was so tense I used a lot more than usual and it barely registered in my system. By late this afternoon, I was already taking a dose, and if I'm not feeling better soon, I will be digging into my supply again. I don't like getting loopy, but this might be one of those times when getting a bit loopy is good. I'm avoiding the news until I see how the early results look, but my husband is already glued to the set. This will probably be one night when he doesn't fall asleep in his chair!!

I've had many signs from departed loved ones. A couple of years ago, I decided to write up of all of them that I could remember. It took much longer than I expected, and was several pages long. Since I originally started the project, I've been able to add a couple of more instances. I'm hoping that some day when I've left this life, one or more of my remaining loved ones will find it at a time when they need comfort, and it will help them realize we never really leave the people who are important to us. Cleaning out a parent's house is definitely an emotional experience. My parents had become pretty hard core hoarders, and we shed many tears over the mess they lived with in their final years. They refused all offers to help, so we would often sneak garbage bags full of stuff to our cars for disposal, but that didn't make a dent in the hoard. I'm relatively young (63) but since they passed, I've been almost compulsive about not accumulating more stuff that I don't need and probably won't use. I just hope that what seems to be age related hoarding doesn't become a problem as I get older. I don't want my sons dealing with a basement or garage full of items that aren't fit for donation, but are too numerous to put out on a regular garbage night.

She can't just come out and say something, she tries to make it sound as if she's a deep thinking, scholarly, philosophical writer. Obviously we are privileged, but inferior, uneducated peons because we don't get what she's trying to convey. What a snowflake!!!